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Signs of damage
If your plant grows in good soil and gets fertilized and watered regularly, it is not very likely that nutrient deficiencies will bother you. Before deciding that your ill plant has a deficiency, it is important to exclude other, more widespread causes, such as over/underwatering, improper lighting, fungus, and pests. That said, nutrient deficiencies still happen.
Here are the symptoms of the most widespread ones:
- Potassium deficiency manifests in brown and burn-looking leaf edges and tips combined with chlorosis between leaf veins.
- Phosphorus deficiency causes older leaves of your plant to turn dark green, with purple, bronze, or red tinges. Later, leaves can develop brown spots and necrosis.
- Nitrogen deficiency manifests in yellowing lower leaves with pale green leaves on top of your greenie.
- Calcium deficiency affects newer leaves that grow twisted, stunted, and withered.
- Magnesium deficiency makes older leaves of your plant look chlorotic between the leaf veins. Leaves become pale, while leaf veins stay green.
How to prevent
It is a completely natural process of a plant's life cycle, so it is impossible to prevent it.
Heal
When the plant has finished flowering, you should consider pruning it.
- In many cases, pruning is merely a cosmetic procedure. For instance, you can prune the bushes into the shape you want by trimming some leaves and stems.
If the plants are left intact, they may lose their initial shape.
- However, we recommend leaving your plants alone if you strive for a natural appeal or even artistic chaos.
- Pruning has other benefits apart from aesthetic pleasure. Some plants may be short-lived if unpruned. Moreover, the following flowering and fruiting may be unsuccessful.
- Consider pruning not only the dead flowers but also some foliage. However, it shouldn’t be more than 30% of the overall foliage of the plant.
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